Troika Heavy Machine Gun
Background The Troika Heavy Machine Gun is a mounted heavy machine gun designed and used by the Locust. As with most Locust weapons, little is known of the Troika's origins or engineering, but some information has been confirmed through field usage. The weapon itself is a modified form of the minigun, equipped with two rotary ammunition drums and active cooling to allow virtually continuous firing. Aiming is assisted with an infrared scope (so as to accommodate the Locust visual range), though manual aiming tends to be preferred by COG forces. The weapon's mount has a horizontal spread of approximately 100 degrees and a vertical spread of approximately 80 degrees, and is equipped with active recoil compensation. The Troika as mounted includes frontal armoring, though this provides no cover from side or rear attacks, leaving the user's legs partially exposed and most notably lacks total head coverage. The mighty General RAAM used what appears to be a cut-down variation of the Troika, which lacked a shield and had a grip and an amunition drum similar to the rear half of a Boomshot. Game Strategies The Troika is a very powerful weapon, capable of ripping through standard infantry armor in a few shots. However, the Troika's mounting stand has an extremely slow turning speed, and the aiming should be kept unzoomed when taking on multiple enemies. It should also be noted that the Troika provides protection only in the front, so attacks from the side should be watched out for. Countering Strategies Methods of attacking Troika emplacements include the use of grenades, aerial bombardment via the Hammer of Dawn or a close-range shotgun blast from behind. Alternatively it is possible to use a longer-range weapon (Longshot Sniper Rifle or Torque Bow for example) to attack the user's head through the viewing gap in the Troika's frontal armor. Leg shots tend to be instantly fatal with a Longshot, especially with a perfect active reload. One final strategy is to peg the user's exposed legs with a Torque Bow. The stationary user will have a lot of trouble dodging the attack, but be sure to fire before the gunner does. Multiplayer The Troika currently appears in only one of the Multiplayer maps, "War Machine". Troikas cannot turn behind the user, so having another player guard their back is often the best defense. In practice, the weapon is generally useless, providing next to no protection from fire and allowing excessively easy sniper rifle and Torque Bow kills due to the wide assortment of angles it can be attacked from. Trivia *If you use a Longshot to scope in on the Troika's targeting display, at the bottom, in white letters, you can clearly read the word "Target". This is odd, as the Locust do not write in Tyran. *In Gears 2, the Troika can overheat if fired for too long. Using the RB button can release the captured heat quickly. *The Troika has a unique ability to "mulch" enemies no matter how far you are. *A troika is actually a government system with 3 leaders. The U.S.S.R. used this system for a time period. The relationship with the actual definition and the turret is unknown. Category:Locust Horde Category:Gears of War 2 weapons